Web Essay: Obamacare and Social Security? No comparison

President Barack Obama speaks as he stands with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and people who support the Affordable Care Act in the Rose Garden at the White House on Oct. 1, 2013.

In a recent Democrat and Chronicle letter, yet another reader tries to compare what problems may have occurred when the government initially introduced the Social Security program, as a justification for the population to be patient with the ongoing problems with the current Obamacare debacle. In my opinion, this reader, just as those before him, who have tried the same comparison, is way off base.

First, the Social Security Act was a brand new program, something never before seen or implemented, in American history. It started from scratch.

Since the Social Security Administration did not base itself off of a previous program, or intend to replace a previously successful program, yes, there probably were some start-up issues. However, it didn't require anyone to give up their previously in place, but then declared substandard by government definition, retirement assistance program. Because of this, if there were a few delays with newly eligible people receiving their monthly checks, it was not an issue. They hadn't been getting a check before, so a delay or two of a newly found benefit wasn't critical.

In the present circumstances, people who previously had health insurance are suddenly finding themselves without it, and obtaining new coverage is either more difficult, more expensive, or both. The United States has long enjoyed the reputation of having the finest health care system in the world. It may not have been perfect, but it certainly didn't need a total upheaval to help the small percentage of the population that didn't have health care insurance.

Furthermore, not receiving a Social Security check did not put you in the position of having to pay a fine. Obamacare, however, does exactly that. Therefore, I don't see where there can be any reasonable comparison of the roll-out of these two programs. Obamacare is a total fiasco, in a class all by itself.